What we actually need to do to #SaveOurChildren
Recently there has been a huge upsurge online of people raising awareness about paedophilia and child abductions. As the CEO of an organisation dedicated to preventing sexual harm towards children and young people, I was gladdened by this interest.
But then I became disturbed…
In Australia, as many as one in five children are subjected to sexual abuse.
When the light was first shone on childhood sexual abuse in the 80s, the focus was predominately on ‘stranger danger’. Children were warned about men in white vans ready to lure them away with the promise of lollies.
In response, Safety House signs sprung up around neighbourhoods and schools. These were self-appointed homes where children could run to safety if they were being followed by a ‘baddie’.
More recently, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse and the Victorian Betrayal of Trust Inquiry forced us to confront an uncomfortable reality - that child sexual abuse was more likely to be enacted in institutions such as schools, religious institutions and sporting or community groups than from strangers.
A beacon of community safety in the 80’s and 90’s.
The truth is that the vast majority of harm done to children is experienced in the home.
Abusers are most likely to be parents, step-parents, family friends, siblings, and extended family members
Yet, recent conspiracy theories would have us believe that there is an enormous global network of high-profile child traffickers. Using the tags #SaveTheChildren or #SaveOurChildren2020, the theorists name chain stores, actors, politicians and toy manufacturers as part of the global child trafficking network.
The conspiracies are broad so that they can be transferred to any community or current event.
Recently, when a curfew was announced for Melbourne under stage four restrictions, theorists said it was due to the government rescuing nearly 1000 children who were being held in tunnels under Melbourne.
Apparently, the rescue had to occur at night as the children had lived underground for so long that they were unable to be exposed to daylight without harm.
The thing about conspiracy theories like this is that if you dismiss them, you run the risk of seeming flippant about child welfare.
Yet, if you do genuinely care about the welfare of children who are being abused, it’s imperative to redirect attention from sensationalist stories like this to the real issue.
#SAVEOURCHILDREN: What is the real issue?
The reality is, stranger abduction in Australia is so rare that it would be impossible for 1000 children to be missing without us knowing about it.
While it’s difficult to get exact statistics, as few as two children a year are reported missing in Australia and not subsequently located within a few days.
Those missing children are most likely to either be teenagers who have left of their own volition, or children who have been victim to overseas parental abduction following family breakdown.
When we allow wild stories like this one to take root in our collective imagination, we turn our attention away from the very real risk posed to children.
We can, once more, look for ‘strangers’ and ‘baddies’ and ‘monsters’ in the form of whichever corporation or political leader we choose.
We rail loudly and impotently against an enemy seemingly stronger than ourselves, and we paint these fictional children as a warning of what might happen when we lose our moral compass by buying that doll or supporting that political candidate.
It allows for greater division amongst ourselves. If that doll has been manufactured as a grooming tool for paedophiles and my child’s friend’s mother buys it, then she is an unsafe person with questionable morals.
All the while, seemingly ordinary people are grooming children all over Australia right under the noses of people who have bought into this confected outrage.
Child sex abusers behave like impeccable members of the community while they enact abuse.
“When we allow wild stories like this one to take root in our collective imagination, we turn our attention away from the very real risk posed to children.”
Not only do the conspiracy theorists detract from the abuse occurring in children’s homes by people known to them, they also prevent protective adults learning about how technology is being used to coerce and manipulate children into producing child sex abuse material (CSAM) for actual online global rings of paedophiles and offenders.
It was already difficult to engage parents in the likelihood of TikTok or Fortnite being used by predators to elicit CSAM material from their children.
It’s much harder when those same parents are held in the thrall of children being smuggled out of drains or being sold at the parties of Hollywood actors.
We need to put these conspiracy theories to bed and redirect our focus.
How you can make a real difference.
The biggest threat to children in Australia is not child trafficking - it is the people we know, we care for and we trust. We can only predict whether they will abuse children if we learn to recognise grooming behaviours.
It is your responsibility as an adult to help stop abuse, and you need to do it effectively, by intercepting grooming behaviour and teaching children body safety skills. Signing Twitter petitions is at best, a waste of time, and at worst, a distraction that allows us to ignore real abuse.
~ Deanne Carson
